mikeg1962 Posted April 2, 2006 Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 Now there's a topic to send shudders down your spine! I have a question for you VW mechanics out there. This happened to my wife's 2001 Polo Match 1.4. As she was approaching a junction, the brake pedal vibrated like crazy then went to the floor with zero pressure!!! Thankfully my better half had the presence of mind to ram the car into 2nd and then used the handbrake to stop. She does not recall any brake warning light nor ABS warning light showing, although I accept in the heat of the moment these might have been overlooked. She then discovered the brakes were working again... ... so she drove (very carefully ) to a local mechanic. He checked the brake pressure and said it was OK. The brakes have been working fine ever since. Also, I took the Polo to another independent garage with electronic diagnostics kit (this garage was recommended to me by an AA mechanic). That garage could not find anything wrong with the brakes either. Get this... the owner of the garage said that it sounded like a "one-off" brake master cylinder failure and this happens sometimes! He said he had had people come in with this before; after checking their cars and finding nothing wrong, they had gone away and never come back. (I am hoping the reason they never came back is not because their brakes failed again and they ran into a brick wall! ) The car has also been through MOT (which in Northern Ireland is administered by a government test centre, with all the latest computerised gadgets) and passed with flying colours! So here is my question (ok, three questions!) 1. Does your experience back what the garage man says (about this just being a transitory problem that should never happen again)? 2. Anything I should do further than the checking I have already done? 3. Can I drive and/or sell this car with reasonable confidence that this will not happen again? Any clues Oh Great Gurus? DR1VER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wobby Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 No answers from me TBH! But if my car did that and i couldn't find a fault i doubt i would trust it again. I WOULD SELL IT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeg1962 Posted April 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Hmmm.... I honestly wouldn't like to sell a car that could be potentially dangerous. I would like to be at least reasonably sure this would not happen again to the new owner, then I could sleep more easily at nights ... ...hence my desire to verify the garage man's story, also to check if there is anything else I should do to be sure the car is OK. But I appreciate hearing from anyone mechanical even if all they say is they have not heard of this before. I have my doubts about the garage man's story, so if lots of mechanics say they have not heard about cars suffering mysterious and total transient brake failure, then that kind of strengthens my suspicions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobes49 Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Try on a open road getting the ABS working (with plenty of time to stop if they do fail) Then let me know if it does it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustynuts Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 A tentative post here, could it be the brake booster faulty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeg1962 Posted April 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 What's a brake booster? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeg1962 Posted April 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 [ QUOTE ] Try on a open road getting the ABS working (with plenty of time to stop if they do fail) Then let me know if it does it again. [/ QUOTE ] Sounds like a plan... will let you know. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustynuts Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 [ QUOTE ] What's a brake booster? [/ QUOTE ] Vacuum operated brake assistance unit. Heaves on the brakes for you when you touch the pedal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeg1962 Posted April 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 [ QUOTE ] Try on a open road getting the ABS working (with plenty of time to stop if they do fail) Then let me know if it does it again. [/ QUOTE ] Well I took my wife's Polo out tonight and, taking advantage of dry & traffic-free roads, planted my foot on the brakes on four suitable occasions, each time from 60-ish (ahem!) The brakes worked fine. No warning lights. Bit of a squeal from the nearside front tyre during one such "emergency" stop, so I presume it momentarily locked up (or nearly did) but it sorted itself pretty smartish without me having to do anything. The brake pedal vibrated during a couple of the brake tests (ABS warning me not to be so silly, I presume). I've checked the VAG codes on the vehicle data sheet and confirmed that the car definitely does have ABS. However no warning lights showed at any stage. "Does that help?", he asked, eagerly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobes49 Posted April 4, 2006 Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 I've had a golf when the ABS worked the brakes stoped working but this doesn't seem to be your problem. The biggest problem with ABS is when the pedal vibrates people take there foot of the brake?? But this is not yoyur problem either? No real ideas to be honest? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeg1962 Posted April 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 [ QUOTE ] I've had a golf when the ABS worked the brakes stoped working but this doesn't seem to be your problem. The biggest problem with ABS is when the pedal vibrates people take there foot of the brake?? But this is not yoyur problem either? No real ideas to be honest? [/ QUOTE ] Thanks for the thoughts anyway. And no, both I and my wife both keep our foot on the brake even with the pedal trembling. I had wondered if the problem was due to a faulty ABS sensor in a wheel. I had that in a BMW I owned once, but it was intermittent and eventually went away (thank God!) However, in the beemer, the brakes still worked even though the ABS turned itself off. In the Polo, it sounds like the ABS cut in and then the whole brake system lost pressure (pedal went to the floor). I know my wife's driving style is somewhat more restrained than mine, so I am sure she was not going too fast for the road conditions... a belief borne out by the fact that she managed to stop in time, even without the brakes! DR1VER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeg1962 Posted April 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] What's a brake booster? [/ QUOTE ] Vacuum operated brake assistance unit. Heaves on the brakes for you when you touch the pedal. [/ QUOTE ] Oh OK. How could I check that out? DR1VER? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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